by Onomarie Uriri

 Selma is a powerful movie that teaches great, important lessons. Do yourself a favour and see it.

If you haven’t heard about the Ava DuVernay-directed movie, Selma, then you are most likely living (or hiding) under a rock.

Like a good number of people in Lagos, I attended the premier of the movie at House on the Rock church in Lagos this past Sunday. I went in with a healthy mix of curiosity, expectation, and reserve. Reserve, primarily because it had been getting major Oscar and Emmy buzz, and secondly because it centred on the late Reverend Martin Luther King. I was worried that the movie would be an over-kill, a desperate and extreme pacification of Afro-American people and their history, as some black movies are wont to be. Boy, was I wrong!

It was is a heck of a movie; deserving of every single one of those amazing reviews.

Beyond it being an amazing movie, I think Selma gives excellent lessons on life and leadership. Here are my top 7:

1. Women. Rock. Period. – Annie Lee Cooper, played by the very formidable Oprah Winfrey, earned her spot in history’s walk of fame (and my heart), when she punched Selma Sheriff Jim Clark (played by Stan Houston), right in the face. Beyond all of that, I think for me, it showed how the actions of ONE singular person can influence a movement. Asides Annie, other women like Dianne Nash, Amelia Boynton Robinson, and Viola Liuzzo, showed that bravery, courage and determination are not just mere words. They lived all of it fearlessly through their very inspiring lives.

2. Death is an essential part of the struggle for freedom – It must have been tough, hard as hell to be a black person living in racially segregated America in the 60s. Black people were harassed, beat, bludgeoned and killed frequently and it was taken as normal. That is, until they began to push back and protest against the system. You see, sometimes it takes the death of people to make others sit up and say “No! That’s enough. We are no longer having any of it.”

3. The role of a citizen is equally as important as that of a leader – Chude Jideonwo in his TEDx talk, highlights the importance of the office of the citizen. In the Selma movie, the people, the followers, and the ordinary every-day people, showed that they were as hungry, eager and determined for change as Martin Luther King himself. Real change starts from the bottom up, not the other way round. It starts with people being determined to see the end of a cause regardless of whatever good or bad that happens to them, as exemplified by the 84-year old Cager Lee, registering to vote, even after his grandson was shot to death by the state troopers.

4. You’re only as good (or bad) as those you surround yourself with – In the movie, Martin Luther King (played by our very own David Oyetokunbo Oyelowo), regularly conferred with those around him. The quality of the counsel he received, the strategy, the planning, the way he delegated tasks and allowed people to take the lead, would have been downright impossible if he surrounded himself with yes-men or toadies. Frequently they would argue long and hard, have shouting matches and disagreements and then, finally meet themselves in the middle. It was refreshing to see that someone didn’t say “Hey I’m the oga here, and nobody must question me.”

5. Who you make your life partner is VERY important – A hundred gbosas for Coretta Scott-King. Lawd!! That woman was THE queen. A man doesn’t go to war, knowing his home (or heart) is in shambles. Even when the couple had issues (and they did), Coretta was on the front-line marching with her man, and showing him support when it counted. That blew me away, the way she did it. No “I must share this limelight with this man,” no “I too must voice my opinion.” None of that drama. The truth is, a woman who is strong and confident enough in who she is and what she brings to the table, doesn’t need to go about shouting about it, she just is. Dear brothers, biko, better recognize.

6. You must believe in something (or someone), bigger than yourself – In his case, Reverend Martin Luther King believed and trusted wholly in the power of God. Even when the times got difficult, or he felt fear, his faith always centred him. A particularly moving part in the movie is when he calls gospel singer Mahalia Jackson (played by Ledisi Young) and asks her to inspire him with a song. Right there, in the middle of the night, as Mahalia sings “Precious Lord Take My Hand,” you can literally feel the hope and strength surge through Martin Luther King.

7. Feel fear, but do it anyway – Perhaps my favourite scene in the movie is during the second march from Selma to Montgomery, on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Martin Luther King, along with thousands of people march towards hostile state trooper, armed with tear gas, whips and batons. The same troopers, who had just days before wounded, maimed and bludgeoned black people attempting to do the same thing. You can see the fear on his face, the apprehension, the anxiety, the slight flicker of doubt, but because he believes in what he wants to do, he goes ahead and presses forward. That to me is one of the marks of great leaders; the ones who feel fear, but are convicted enough to do it anyway.

Selma is a powerful movie that teaches great, important lessons. Do yourself a favour and see it.

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– Onomarie Uriri is a Communications Executive by day and a writer for the rest of the time in between. She tweets from  @zanyfran

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.